11-06-2018, 04:52 PM
(11-06-2018, 04:34 PM)KevinT Wrote: I read several articles surrounding Australia's situation yesterday to educate myself but still find the whole thing curious. As a cyclist I've never taken on more risk or rode someplace I otherwise wouldn't just because I'm wearing a helmet, and as a car driver I've never thought to myself "Hmm, that cyclist is wearing a helmet, guess I'll clip that mothersmurfer a little closer." If the researchers are to be believed however that makes me an anomaly. All I know is that after a car driver turned right just after passing me in 1991 and I somersaulted over the hood of their car at 45 km/h, I have worn a helmet, and I will never feel safer not wearing it.
It’s not necessarily conscious, for either the motorist or the bicyclist. A lot of things which would be horrible if done consciously (e.g., as you say, driving a bit closer to a bicyclist just because they have a helmet on) are a part of how our minds work unconsciously; this doesn’t mean we can’t do anything about them, but dismissing them as something that is present only in bad people isn’t going to work.